Wrapped Up In Christmas

“Ready to replace that awful photo on the stairwell?” she asked. “Absolutely.”

Her father laughed. “Glad I know that’s not your only motive.”

“I might have one or two others.”

Like the wonderful man waiting for her to walk down the aisle. She wanted to glance around the church, to see her friends, Bodie’s mother, stepfather, stepsisters and their families, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the man smiling at her with love in his eyes.

When her father handed her off to Bodie and then stepped up to perform the marriage ceremony, Sarah smiled at her soon-to-be husband.

“I can’t believe you made me wait a year for this day.”

“You know Christmas is the best day of the year,” she reminded him. “How could we have gotten married on any other day?”

“There is that,” he whispered back. “Merry Christmas, Sarah.”

Sarah’s heart filled with joy.

Christmas really was the best day of the year.

The End

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

A Hallmark Original Recipe

In Wrapped Up In Christmas, one of the ladies at Sarah’s church is famous for her cinnamon bread recipe. Others attempt to copy it without success. Here’s that secret recipe, filled with cinnamon and covered with yummy icing. The trick to beautiful swirls is in folding the dough into thirds so you get an extra layer of the delicious cinnamon-sugar blend. This bread is perfect for a Christmas celebration, like Sarah and Bodie enjoy together, or for any time of year.

Yield: 2 loaves (16 servings)

Prep Time: 3 hours

Bake Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

Dough:

¼ cup warm water

½ teaspoon granulated sugar

1 envelope active dry yeast

1 cup whole milk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

4 cups bread flour

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 large egg, beaten

Cinnamon Sugar: